I have about 20,000 km's on my car now and decided to take a peak at the air cleaner element. It only takes about 10 seconds to pull it out. It's already very dirty but probably good for another 6 months for my liking. I found lots of small pebbles, sand and dead bugs in the air cleaner unit before the filter element so I vacuumed it all out. Probably a good idea for everyone to clean out the sand, bugs, etc. sitting before the filter element on a regular basis.

I have about 20,000 km's on my car now and decided to take a peak at the air cleaner element. It only takes about 10 seconds to pull it out. It's already very dirty but probably good for another 6 months for my liking. I found lots of small pebbles, sand and dead bugs in the air cleaner unit before the filter element so I vacuumed it all out. Probably a good idea for everyone to clean out the sand, bugs, etc. sitting before the filter element on a regular basis.

scheduled replacement for our air filters is 40000 km, I believe... unless you live in a very dusty or very wet environment.

Being that you are in Vancouver (which as you know better than any one is extremely wet) it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to change it in the next 5000 km or so... especially since it looks very dirty to you!

There are about 5 metal tabs that you push away from the housing. They are attached at the bottom so just let them hang. Then you lift the top up from the front about 45 degrees and slide it forward towards the front of the car since it's hinged at the back with tabs.